1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of curing compositions by ultraviolet radiation.
2. Background Information
The curing of an ultraviolet radiation curable composition upon exposure to ultraviolet radiation varies with the kind of ingredients making up the composition, the kind of equipment used for generating the ultraviolet radiation, the geometry of the device having a film, coating, or encapsulant to be cured, and the curing conditions to which the device is exposed. These variables make it difficult to determine at what point the composition is sufficiently cured. Many times to avoid the chance that a composition may be under cured, the dosage of ultraviolet (UV) radiation which is given the items to be cured are excessive. Excessive dosages may not harm the items, but it could, and furthermore, using excessive dosages is expensive and a waste of resource. Therefore, the discovery of the present method permits establishing curing conditions which can result in sufficient cure without either undercuring or overcuring.
Materials for the electrical and electronics industry need to meet stricter requirements because the electronic devices are becoming smaller and more complex. The field of printed circuit boards is no exception. The various coatings require that the materials protect the electronic devices and components from the environments which they may encounter either during processing or in use. Coating printed circuit boards with compositions which will cure to a film and which will provide the required protection without changing the designed electronic properties or otherwise damage the boards components is difficult to achieve because the components are very small and often of shapes and design which demands compositions which have special uncured properties, special curing properties, and special application properties.
Printed circuit boards often need to be protected from contamination of the electrical and electronic components. This protection can be provided by coating or encapsulating the device bearing board with a protective film to avoid or minimize the reduction in the electrical performance due to contamination. Moisture and humidity are considered to be the worst contaminant because it must be dealt with in most environments. Moisture and humidity can drastically lower insulation resistance between conductors, accelerate high voltage breakdown, accelerate dendritic growth, and corrode the conductors. Other than moisture, chemical contaminants from the environment such as dust, dirt, solvents, acids, fungus, oils, and fuels or which are used in the manufacturing process such as organic solvents, fluxes, vapors, acids, release agents, and metal dust. Handling a printed circuit board can also cause contamination, for example, from fingerprints. Conformal coatings are also used to protect the electronic components from the harmful aspects of extremes in temperature, shock, and abrasion.
Many conformal coatings and potting compositions are known in the art and are available commercially. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. One prior art conformal coating material is based on acrylics. Acrylic coatings make excellent coating and potting systems because they have desirable electrical and physical properties, are resistant to fungus growth, have a long life, low or no exotherm during cure, and have little or no shrinkage during cure. From some viewpoints, the acrylic coating systems have a production advantage because they can be readily applied by spraying, dipping, or brushing. However, this is also a disadvantage because the films are formed from solvent containing acrylic systems. The evaporation of the solvent is a slow and expensive step and the solvent vapors need to be controlled for environmental reasons. The solvents typically used are the chlorinated solvents, such as trichloroethane and methylene chloride.
The combined impact of high energy costs and more stringent control regulations which restrict emissions of volatile solvents into the atmosphere has created a need in the coatings industry for high solids or solventless systems which do not require a large amount of energy for conversion of the system into a high performance coating. Coatings which are 100% solids are known and have a rapid cure at a relatively low conversion energy demand. Such coatings are acrylated coatings which cure by ultraviolet radiation or by electron beam exposure. These are all reasons why it is important to have the ability to know when a UV curable composition is cured so that extra energy usage is avoided and the cost is kept to a minimum.